Welfare drug testing plan removed from Ohio bill

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- A wide-ranging midterm budget bill has cleared the Ohio Senate after lawmakers removed a contentious pilot program that would have tied welfare benefits to clean drug tests.

Democratic state Sen. Shirley Smith of Cleveland said the last-minute decision Wednesday to pull the welfare proposal led her to vote in favor of the budget bill. She said it showed her majority Republicans were willing to compromise.

The welfare plan will be taken up in a separate bill later. It was broadly criticized as discriminatory to the poor, ineffective in other states, and potentially unconstitutional. It called for piloting drug tests for welfare recipients in three volunteering counties so those who test positive would lose access to their benefits for at least six months.